Mastering your Squat

Hip Hinge

Initiate the squat by pushing your hips backward, mimicking the motion of sitting down on a low chair. By hinging your hips, you ensure that the pressure shifts to your heels, allowing for greater depth and minimizing strain on your knees.

Straight Head Position

Maintain a straight head position by focusing on a fixed spot at eye level throughout the movement. Do not look down during a squat. This alignment keeps your spine safe and prevents potential hazards, especially when handling heavier weights.

Chest Out Shoulders Back

Maintain proper spinal alignment by keeping your chest out and shoulders back. This posture helps maintain the natural curve of your lower back, promoting a strong and safe squat.

Neutral Lower Back

It is crucial to maintain a neutral lower back throughout the squat, particularly when adding weights. Avoid rounding your lower back as it can lead to excessive pressure on the intervertebral discs. If you feel your lower back slumping, return to the starting position and work on improving control and strength gradually.

Knees Over Ankles

Aim to keep your shins vertical and prevent your knees from crossing an imaginary line drawn vertically from your toes. Allowing your knees to cross this line increases the risk of injury and unnecessary stress on your joints. Focus on pushing your hips further back to achieve greater depth instead of compromising your knee alignment.

Breath Pattern

Pay attention to your breathing during squats. Inhale deeply as you lower yourself down and exhale forcefully as you push back up. Maintaining this breathing pattern throughout the exercise helps optimize performance.

Squat Depth

The depth of your squat depends on your hip flexibility. Aim for parallel squats, where your hamstrings are about parallel to the floor, engaging your thighs, hips, and glutes. Going deeper than parallel is acceptable if it feels comfortable and doesn't cause pain or discomfort in your knees or lower back.

Athletic Stance

As you lower into the squat position, ensure that your knees stay in line with your second and third toes. Avoid letting your knees roll inward, adopt an athletic stance for squats, where your knees are slightly bent, feet are firmly planted on the ground, and toes are pointed slightly outward. This positioning promotes stability and allows for effective engagement of different muscle groups, with a wider stance emphasizing the glutes and hamstrings and a closer stance targeting the quadriceps.

Collapsing Knees

Avoid allowing your knees to collapse inward while squatting. This inward knee movement can put excessive stress on your knees and potentially damage the ligaments. Always make sure to point your knees in the same direction as your toes.

Lack of Depth

When you squat above parallel, you limit your range of motion, leading to decreased gains in leg size and strength. Additionally, this improper form can put unnecessary strain on your knees since the force of the barbell doesn't shift onto your hips until you reach parallel. If you struggle with achieving the desired depth, work on improving your hip mobility.

Rounded Lower Back 

Maintaining a flat, neutral spine is crucial during squats to avoid placing dangerous stress on your lumbar spine. Rounding your lower back, often referred to as a "butt-wink," can occur as your butt tucks underneath and your lower back rounds when descending towards parallel. effectively engaging your entire core and alleviating pressure on your back.

Inactive Glutes

The glutes are the most powerful muscles in your lower body, and it is crucial to engage them effectively during squats. By consciously focusing on utilizing your glutes throughout the movement, you can maximize the benefits of squats and achieve optimal muscle activation.

Raising your Hips too Fast

When rising from the bottom position of a squat, it is common for individuals to lift their hips faster than their shoulders, resembling a "good morning" exercise. This can strain the lumbar spine as you rely on your lower back for extension. Focus on raising your hips and shoulders simultaneously.

Using the Smith Machine

The Smith Machine restricts your movement to a two-dimensional plane and promotes unnatural patterns of motion. Furthermore, it stabilizes the weight for you, depriving you of the full advantages that come with squatting. It's best to opt for free weights when squatting to maximize your gains and engage the muscles to their fullest potential.

Lifting Your Heels

Lifting your heels during the descent of a squat can lead to weight shifting forward, increased difficulty, and added stress on your knees. Instead, focus on driving through your heels when executing the movement.